Foldable vehicle top



1. T. WOLFE.

FOLDABLE` VEHICLE TOP. APPLxcATxoN FILED Nov. 19, 1911.

111161111111 July 1s, 1922.

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JAB/IES THRUSTON WOIJFE, 0F XVASI-IINGTON, DSTRICT 0F COLUMBIA.

Gignal application led `uly 17, 1914, Serial No. 851,586.

Speeicaticn of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1922.

Divided and this application filed November 19, 1917'. Serial No. 202,817.

To @ZZ y11i/1,0m 'it may concern:

Ee it known that I, @latins THRUs'roN lVoLrn, a citizen of the United States, residing at VaShingtOn, in the District of Columbia,ha\f'e invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foldable Vehicle Tops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of foldable vehicle tops which comprise a support, in the form of an upwardly extending bow or other member, to be mounted upon the rear portion of a vehicle body, and a self-sustaining, but collapsible structure carrying the main spread of the cover and mounted upon Vand extending forwardly from said support.

The object of the present invention is to provide for the forward extension or overhanging portion of the top. a comparatively simple and inexpensive structure that will be rigidly self-sustaining, adapted to effectively spread and shape the cover material when extended, to compactly fold when collapsed, and to be conveniently manipulated to and from its respective positions at will.

To this end, one feature of the invention consists in combining, in such a top extension, the front bow to which the cover material is to be attached, a pair of jointed two part side arms projecting the front bow from the rear support with joints permitting the members of the side arms to be deflected upwardly to develop upstanding load supportingarches when the top is in shelterposition, an intermediate bow permanently pivoted to and extending` upwardly from the arched side arms, but otherwise free from connection therewith controlled only by the cover attachment and arranged to transmit the load of the cover to said side arms only through its pivotal connections with the side arms, and means independent of said intermediate bow (for instance, constructing t-he joints as rule joints) for limiting the deiiection of the arches upward beyond that which is required to develop an effective Lustaining arch. l

Another object of the invention is so to dispose the intermediate bow, in the organization of elements above described, that the vertical cover load imparted there` through, as modified by the rearward tension of the cover material, will be transmitted largely as a rearward moment in the direction of the rear members of the side arms toward the rear bow or support, and the vertical moment of said load will have the effect of swinging the intermediate bow upon'its pivots and thereby develop a forward stretching of the cover that puts the cover under tension and prevents sagging in rear of intermediate bow, but relieves some of the strain on the attachment of the cover A to the front bow.

To this end another feature of the invention consists in locating the pivots of the intermediate bow upon the rear members of the side arms and, in addition to leaving the intermediate bow free from restraint in its swinging movement (except by the cover material or webbingr attached to its free end), said intermediate bow has its restraining attachment at a point in the cover or cover sustaining webbing, which leaves the bow at a very considerable forward inclination so that as the coverseeks to assume a straight line under the tension imposed by drawing down the front bow, it develops a strong downward moment in the intermediate bow which assists in the forward tensioning of the cover material or supporting webbing and develops the aforesaid rearward moment that is transmitted. through the side arms to the rear support.

The invention will be fully understood upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a form of top in which the several features of the present invention are embodied;

Figure 2 is a detail plan view showing the preferred construction of the intermediate bow and its mounting upon the side arms;

Figure 3 is a detail view of the preferred meansfor limiting upward deflection of the side arms;

Figure 3a is a view showing the side arms joint in partly opened position;

Figure 4C is a sectional view showing top in act of collapsing;

A represents the oblique bow, B the rear bow which constitutes the main support, C the cover material that is stretched over said bows and intended to be firmly anchored to the rear of the vehicle in a well known manner; D the front bow, E the front members of the side` arms, F the rear members of the side arms which are jointed to said front members at c and pivotally attached to the main support B at f and G is the intermediate how having its ends pivotally att-ached to the side arms at g and attached to the cover at c,

The joint e is of such a nature that the members E, 17 of the side arms can be deflected upwardly sufficiently beyond a straight line connecting the joints and D to develop an effective upstanding arch capable of sustaining a considerable load placed thereon so long as the front end D, of the structure, is firmly held down by any suitable means known for the purpose, for instance. the member (Z. kln order to limit the upward deflection of the joint c, some means are provided wholly independent of the intermediate bow G. This is preferably the abutting` shoulders of the joint e as shown more clearly in Figures 3, 31a whereby said joint is made into a rule joint, in effect. iis will be seen in Figure 1 the intermediate bow d is under no restraint by any connection either with the main supportI B or the side arms E F with respect to its swinging movement upon its pivots g and is restrained in this respect only by its attachment to the cover material. The eX- pression cover material, is to be understood as referring either to the portion of the cover that resists the weather or ele ments, or, to the supporting webs or strips of stout material, generally used to sustain the cover material, or, the expression may mean any other flexible connection between the outer ends of intermediate bow (i and the main support B. It will also be seen that the intermediate bow G is so related to the side arms that it does not come in contact therewith or utilize any support thereon other than its pivots when the cover is in shelter-position.

As shown in Figure 2 the intermediate bow (l is preferably attached to the side arms through the medium of members g' of reduced thickness that are adapted to overlie the outer faces of the members .F of the side arms and thereby admit of simpler construction in the pivotal attachment as well as more compact folding when the top is collapsed, though the usual tubular socket may be used for carrying the intermediate bow.

1t will further be seen upon reference to Figure 1 that the angle of the intermediate bow G determined by the location of its pivot g and its cover attachment c is such that the load imposed thereon by the tension at the front bow D, tends to swing the intermediate bow downward and that since arsenal this develops a rear thrust on said intermediate bow through the cover material extendingl rearwardly therefrom, the force resolves itself largely into a rearward moment transmitted through the rear members F of the side arms to the main support B.

it is to he understood` that as the structural portions of foldable vehicle tops are commonly manufactured and sold independently of the surfacing material which is ultimately applied thereto and constitutes the sheltering medium. the present invention, while referring to the cover material or flexible portion to be applied to the frame, is not limited to a combination in which the material is actually applied, but embraces in its purview the frame work or structural por tions when organized as herein set forth.

T his application is adivision of my application. Serial No. SLSG and therefore is to be accorded the constructive filing date fluiy 1T., i914-,

l claim:

l. ln a foldable vehicle top, a rear support, a front bow. a pair of jointed two part side arms projecting the front bow from the rear support and having joints permitting the members of said side arms to be deiiected upwardly to develop upstanding load supporting arches when the top is in shelter-position, and an intermediate bow permanently pivoted to and extending upw: and forwardly from the rear inember of the arched side arms but otherwise free from connection therewith, and controlled only by the cover attachment, means l intermediate bow being independent of sain provided for limiting the upward deflection of the arch forming members of the side arms.

2. A VFoldable cover-support comprising a rear bow, ay front bow` two-part rule-jointed side arms projecting the front bow from the rear bow and deflected upwardly to give the rear parts of the side arms upward and forward inclination and to render the side arms self-sustaining under the vertical load imposed hy the cover when in shelter position. and an intermediate bow permanently pivoted to and upwardly and forwardly inclined from the rear parts of the side arms but otherwise free from connection with the side arms, and a suitably sustained cover material permanently attached to the intermediate bow, and limiting its forward swinging movement upon the side arms when the top is in shelter position.

T he foregoing specification signed at Vivashington` D. C., this 19 dav of Nov. 1917.

` JAMES THRUSTN VOLFE. 

